A Software Company’s Gentle Departure

In the past I’ve given good reviews to a software company, Spud City Software Company, for a time tracker that I used for years, called TraxTime. All licensed users and myself got a nice email from the owner of the company today announcing that they were closing their doors. It made me realize why I liked this company. It was a longish and well thought out email with reassurances like this:

Your software will continue to work as it does now. None of our products relies on connecting to our company via the Internet, or anything like that. So if it is working on your computer system now, as long as your system stays the same the software should continue to work indefinitely.

We have always offered free e-mail support for our software, and I will continue to do so through all of 2015. I will try to check e-mails at least twice a day.

The message continued:

The web site will continue to operate so you can view FAQ information and download files from there as before. However I have disabled the links on the web site to purchase software.

On December 31, 2015, the web site and our e-mail server will be shut down completely and forever. I will answer no support inquires after that point.

I’ve got an entire year to make plans. Now that is considerate! I’ve used software from other companies in which they just disappear. Their website goes down and there is no support. It is refreshing to see a company who actually cares enough for their customers to take the time to plan a graceful exit rather than just bale out!

In the past I’ve written articles like the one titled, “Don’t Leave Your Clients Orphaned” to remind fellow web designers to develop an exit plan. This is a great example of a software company who thought long and hard about their customers needs both currently as well as after they have closed their doors. Bravo to them!

I just wanted to post this to remind myself and others that there are still lots of caring software developers out there who appreciate their customers. To the folks at Spud City, I wish you much continued success at whatever you do. You have been, and still continue to be, a class act!

David, sorry for the delayed response… I missed your initial question. I use a timer called BlackTimer.com. I think it was around 20 bucks. It track’s all my clients time and hides in my system tray until I need it. I actually got it because I use Freshbooks to invoice my clients and it works seamlessly with Freshbooks. But it can also be a stand-alone timer if desired. I hope that helps. Best of luck!